Boy Was Killed Riding To Wrong Bus Stop

School Officials Say Felkin Road Stop Is Safe

EUSTIS — A student who was killed while riding his bicycle to a north Lake bus stop had been using the wrong pickup site so he could attend the school of his choice.

That conclusion was reached by Lake school administrators who checked out the safety of the rural bus route after the Nov. 24 accident. District officials concluded the Felkin Road stop is a safe student pickup point.

''There is nothing we are aware of that the district could have done to prevent this unfortunate accident,'' Assistant Superintendent Jerry Cox said.

John Allen Magras, 13, was hit by a pickup truck driven by Richard Hunt, 41, of Sorrento, at Felkin Road and County Road 452, outside of Eustis.

The student was en route to the Felkin Road bus stop, a pickup site for students who live in the attendance zone for Tavares-area schools. Magras was an eighth-grader at Tavares Middle School.

In their review of the accident, district officials learned:

Magras actually lived in the attendance zone for Eustis-area schools.

The family recently had moved from a house on Whilden Lane - north of the bus stop and in the Tavares attendance zone - to Palm Shores Mobile & RV Park, a community served by Eustis Middle School.

But rather than switch schools, the family allowed John to ride a quarter-mile to the Felkin Road bus stop so he could remain at Tavares Middle School, his father, Robert Magras, said this week.

''He didn't want to leave his friends,'' Magras explained, ''and we didn't want to take him out of that school.''

District officials said that had they known John moved to the mobile home park, he could have been picked up at a bus stop near the entrance of the community.

Every day, a bus that transports students to Eustis Middle School passes the Palm Shores Mobile Home & RV Park, then turns around at the Lake Yale Baptist Retreat, school officials said.

It's not unusual for students to stay at a school even though their families move into another school attendance zone to finish the year, school officials said.

All district officials need is the new address for student records, Cox said.

''Tavares Middle School still had the student's old address, which was in the Tavares district,'' he said. ''We probably would not have denied the family an opportunity to continue at the school the rest of the year.''

Meanwhile, the Florida Highway Patrol was continuing its investigation of the accident, patrol officials said Thursday. No charges have been filed.